Collect for Third Sunday Ordinary Time Year C

 

COLLECT SERIES

 

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

COLLECT

 

The Collect for Third Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C reads as follows:

Almighty ever-living God,

direct our actions according to your good pleasure,

that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What are the actions I need to take today/this week to direct my actions according to His Good pleasure?

2. Why should our good works be done in the name of Jesus?

3. What actions in my life either intermittently or ongoing are not according to God’s good pleasure?  What will I do to address this issue this coming week?

4. What are good works?  Why not examine the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that the church provides us as a guide.  

5.. What are my spiritual goals for 2022- for this month, this week, today?

 

GOSPEL REFLECTION

Today’s Gospel is from Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21.  Year C is the year of reading Luke’s Gospel but we have already had last week an interruption with a Gospel from St John.  Today’s Gospel starts at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel and then jumps to chapter 4.  The reason for this is that we have heard during Christmastide Chapters 1-3 as these are the infant narratives.

Luke’s Gospel has 3 features for us to keep in mind throughout the year:

1. It is an orderly account- chronological from the infancy narratives to the death and resurrection of Christ.

2. It is geographical account- moving from the countryside and finishing in Jerusalem with the death and resurrection of Christ.

3. It is a theological account: By this I mean that Luke is at pains to explain to us throughout his gospel account that Jesus was not only the promise but the fulfillment of the promise.  Today’s gospel account where Jesus is reading from the prophet of Isaiah exemplifies this as Jesus after He rolls up the scroll says’ This text is being fulfilled even as you listen’.

 

We may wish to ask ourselves how this text is being fulfilled as we listen today’.

The Lord sent me to bring good news to the poor: Who are the poor in my life that I can bring good news to this coming week? What is the good news I need to hear to nourish the poor in me?

To proclaim liberty to captives:  Who are the captives in my life that I have in my influence to provide liberty?  Freeing someone who is sad by a smile or a comforting word or helping parishioners, family members, work colleagues, neighbours.  For example, my neighbour has had her daughter stay with her.  The daughter has now gone home and my neighbour is very tired.  My way of giving her some liberty from this tiredness and her heaviness is to provide a few meals for her.  It is tricky because I don’t want this to be a burden for her thinking she has to reciprocate. There are so many ways we can proclaim liberty to captives with the people we meet, know, who cross our path. What will you do this week?

To the blind new sight: Donations either regularly or a one off payment to organisations which deal with the blind would be one way to give blind new sight.

I had major problems with my eyes last year so I have come to appreciate the value of my eyesight even more.  I guess up to then I took my eyes for granted.  Thanking God for our senses and acknowledging how much we appreciate these senses is in itself new sight, especially if you were like me and took them for granted and failed miserably to thank God for them.

We may also wish to ask God for new sight in the areas in our lives where we are spiritually blind or emotionally blind. We need to be honest and ask God to show us our blind spots and help us to overcome them with His guidance and love. What areas of blindness will I ask God to assist me this coming week?

To set the downtrodden free: Looking up a Thesaurus for the word downtrodden came up with the following options: oppressed, Subjugated, persecuted, subdued, repressed, tyrannized, ground down, crushed, enslaved, burdened, weighed down., exploited, disadvantaged, underprivileged, victimized, bullied, browbeaten, under the heel, powerless, helpless, prostrate, abused, misused, maltreated.

Who are the people in my life that I meet, know or may not know personally but can help through an appropriate organisation this coming week to help to set the downtrodden free.  It is worth considering how you might help children to do this as well.  Is a child being bullied in the classroom? How important is it to try to be friends with a child who does not make friends easily?  How can my children show good example and in their own way put this gospel ideal into practice.  We as adults need to help them think about it and maybe give them suggestions and help them to come up with their own ways to put this ideal into practice.

 

To proclaim a year The Lord’s year of favour:  There are certain years that are a jubilee year which in fact brings many blessings because it is a year of favour.  However, every moment of every day is a year of ‘favour from the Lord’. We need to be in that mindset to accept the blessing.   We are almost at the end of the first month of the year but we can thank God for the blessings He has already provided us so far this year. 

Suggested Activity: Get a piece of paper and jot down as many blessings you can remember.  Then each day at the end of the day, jot the blessings you have received throughout the day.  Imagine how many we will have over the whole year.  Hand over the year to the Lord and ask Him to proclaim a year of favour for you and you, in your turn will proclaim Him to others.